I Feel Pretty Movie Review

My wife is a psychotherapist who specializes in body image issues. She’s a huge Amy Schumer fan. And, like me, she found Schumer’s I Feel Pretty to be a flat, largely unfunny comedy that wastes its well-intentioned premise.

The movie is by writing/directing duo Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, and similar to their 2016 comedy How to Be Single, this one too is instantly forgettable and best left ignored.

Many people suffer from low self-esteem, especially as it relates to appearance, and I Feel Pretty plays to how the insecurities we all have are so ridiculous. Schumer, who is pretty but not in the smoking-hot-and-perfectly-slender kind of way, is a great fit for the role of highly insecure Renee Bennett, who, after a head injury, suddenly sees herself as the most beautiful woman on the planet—which in turn sends her confidence sky high.

The premise, a kind of reversal and less offensive version of Shallow Hal, is a pretty clever way to address body image issues and how confidence, or lack thereof, is the real thing people notice. And Kohn and Silverstein piece together several promising scenes that have plenty of potential.

They just fail spectacularly.

I Feel Pretty isn’t a terrible movie, but it’s a comedy that isn’t funny. Kohn and Silverstein seem to have a knack for outlining strong comedic concepts, but less ability when it comes to actually drawing the humor out of what they’ve drafted. Whether it’s Schumer prancing around thinking she’s the hottest item in the room or Michelle Williams squeaking out an against-type performance, Kohn and Silverstein were on to something—and yet the movie still doesn’t work.

It all comes down to execution, and the screenplay just doesn’t cut it. As hard as Schumer tries, the dialogue is flat, the comedic payoff just out of reach. The movie so desperately wants to be funny, but in the end, it’s I Feel Pretty that has confidence issues.